Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Taking Strikes, The Best Way To Score Zero Runs

Final Score: Pirates 0 Astros 3

Why The Pirates Lost: You can’t hit the ball if you do not swing at it. The Pirates made a point of this last night. The Pirates took 27 pitches that were called strikes. The first 5 spots in the batting order took 20 strikes. They were led by Oneil (Throw It Down The Middle I Won’t Swing At It) Cruz, who took 6 strikes on his way to an 0 for 3 night, striking out twice. Bryan Reynolds took 5 strikes on his way to an 0 for 4 night with one strikeout. The top five in the order went 1 for 19 with 7 strikeouts. Just swing at the damn ball. It is not a mystery why they were shut out. Paul Skenes lost his 2nd 8-inning outing of the season. He gave up a home run and two other hits. He struck out 8 and walked one. Dennis Santana gave up a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th. Not that it would have made any difference in the outcome. This gave the Astros a nice cushion going into the bottom of the 9th. The Pirates were shut out for the 10th time this season. Not a good start to the home stand.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had 2 runners caught stealing in the bottom of the 7th and 8th. They had minor threats in the first two innings. Cruz was hit by a pitch in the 1st. He made it around to third but was stranded. In the 2nd, catcher’s interference and a walk put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. IKF could not get the big hit. At least he did not take a strike. They did not get a hit until the 4th inning. They only got one more runner to 2nd base the rest of the game. In contrast, Christian Walker swung at the first pitch he saw in the strike zone. He hit a home run to give the Astros a 1-0 lead in the top of the 7th.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Pittsburgh. Mike Burrows goes for the Pirates. This must be his turnaround game, or it could be his last start as a Pirate for a while. The last two games for the Pirates have been major disappointments. The bullpen and the offense had major meltdowns. My suggestion for the Pirate batters would be to swing at practically everything tonight. You can’t do any worse. At times this offense has looked as bad as any in the history of baseball. It is not even a statistical thing; they just look bad. I do not see how this is going to change any time soon.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Sixty Game Report

The Pirates have played 60 games. That is 37% of the season. They have played better under Don Kelly. They still have not played the best players in their organization. Their record stands at 22-38. That is 16 games below .500. If they play .500 ball the rest of the way, their final record would be 73 and 89. They are 10-12 under Don Kelly. Before we explore the Pirates’ mysterious ways, let’s first review their performance in key offensive statistics. Then we’ll examine their defensive and pitching statistics.

On the offensive side of the ball, they are tied for 28th in runs per game with 3.23 runs per game. They are 24th in On-Base Percentage. In the comparison stat of OPS+, which takes into account all aspects of offensive production, they are 28th at 81. Despite some recent improvement in the offense, they pretty much stink as a team. Right now, they have three players who are above-average hitters: Oneil Cruz is at 129, Andrew McCutchen is at 116, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa is at 106. At the other end of the spectrum, of the Pirates with at least 100 plate appearances: Jared Triolo is at 36, Tommy Pham is at 47, and Ke’Bryan Hayes is at 57. Hayes does the most damage to the team. He is second in plate appearances and is always batting in the middle of the lineup, even leading off at times. On the defensive side of the ball, the Pirates rank tied for 9th with the Atlanta Braves in defensive efficiency. This is surprising to me, but it is one of their highest rankings in about 15 years. The Pirates rank 15th with 4.20 runs per game allowed. Their fielding-independent pitching ranks 11th at 3.82. In the comparison stat of ERA+, which takes into account all aspects of pitching, including competition and ballparks, the Pirates come in 14th at 106. This is above league average, but it is not elite. The leading pitching staff is the Mets at 135. The Pirates have a ways to go. Their four starters are all above league average, with Paul Skenes leading the way at 194. The Pirates have not been capable of finding an effective 5th starter, but more on that later. Only Ryan Borucki and the now-defunct Tanner Rainey are below average out of the bullpen. Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an overall player evaluation. It takes into account all of a player’s abilities: how he hits, fields, and runs the bases. WAR is a volume stat. The more you play, the more your WAR will fluctuate depending on how you are playing. Their worst positions at the moment are 1st base, 3rd base, left field, right field, and their bullpen, all ranking in the bottom 10. The rest of the positions are in the middle 10, including starting pitching, catching, 2nd base, center field, shortstop, and DH. Remember, this is just by position, not the player per se. Bryan Reynolds missed significant time in right field. There have been other players playing third base besides Ke’Bryan Hayes. It does show where the Pirates have been bad.

The Pirates have done nothing to handle these issues. At the end of last season, they needed a 1st baseman and a corner outfielder. They needed bullpen help. What did they do? They got damaged goods, a washed-up player, and two mediocre bullpen pieces with one of those out for the season. Jared Jones went down and eventually needed surgery. What did they do? Essentially nothing. The no-brainer move would have been to promote Bubba Chandler and make him the fifth starter. They still did not do it when Carmen Mlodzinski failed miserably as a starter. Now they have Mike Burrows up, and he has been lit up twice. What are they thinking? They are not. They do not do anything to try and improve the club and win games. As bad as they have looked at times this year, there is talent out there that needs to be developed. The Pirates do nothing to do that. They bring young players up and let them languish on the bench. Even when they get their few opportunities, they perform better than the bums they replace. Yet, they still get sent down to the minors. Even though they have played better under Don Kelly, these things have not changed. Who is chiefly responsible for all this? The owner, the GM, the manager, or even the scouting department? The only answer to me is that this organization needs to be completely gutted. Do you ever get the feeling that this team would do better if they were just left to their own devices? Do everything by proxy. I bet they would not have brought Tanner Rainey into a tight game in the 7th inning if it had been left up to a vote.

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Pirates Morning Report: When It Rainey It Pours

Final Score: Pirates 4 Padres 6

Why The Pirates Lost: They must have wanted to. Why else would you put Tanner Rainey into a tight ball game? Rainey should not even be on the team. After this debacle, he has an ERA of 10.57. He threw 23 pitches, and there were 6 in the strike zone. What makes matters even worse is that there were lots of other options. Chase Shugart could have stayed in the game. Obviously, Caleb Ferguson and Braxton Ashcraft could have pitched because they did. Joey Wentz was available. You have to be wondering who is calling the shots. Hopefully, it is not Don Kelly because he certainly pulled a Shelton on this one. The Pirate offense went to sleep the last 5 innings, getting only a hit and a walk. There is not a lot more to say here. This one was a head scratcher.

Key Moments Of The Game: It all boiled down to the top of the 4th inning. The Pirates were rolling. Adam Frazier opened the inning with an opposite-field home run to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead. Of all people, Tommy Pham singled to center field. The rusty Endy Rodriguez struck out. IKF hit a soft liner to left for a single. Oneil Cruz walked to load the bases with one out. Andrew McCutchen, who homered with a man on in his earlier at-bat, came to the plate. He saw four straight changeups and struck out on one that was way low and outside. Bryan Reynolds, on the first pitch, hit a swinging bunt down the third base line. Martin Maldonado made a great play and threw Reynolds out by half a step. The Padres nicked starter Andrew Heaney for another run to make the score 4-2. The Pirates were ahead 4-2. Still, you knew the game was over when Tanner Rainey started the bottom of the 7th.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Astros in Pittsburgh. The Pirates open a 9-game home stand. They play the Astros, Phillies, and Marlins. It was a shame that the road trip ended on such a sour note when it didn’t have to. Still, it was a 3-3 road trip against two quality clubs. It just seems this organization has no interest in winning. They can talk all they want. When it comes to the Pirates, actions speak louder than words. I am not sure that it will ever change. As much as he stinks, it is not Tanner Rainey’s fault. It is an organizational failure.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Complete Win

Final Score: Pirates 5 Padres 0

Why The Pirates Won: Bailey (Just Get Me Through The First Inning) Falter survived another shaky first inning. Alexander Canario made a nice diving catch to save a run with Fernando Tatis Jr. on third base to end the 1st. From that point on, Falter and the Pirate pitching staff dominated the Padres. They gave up just 1 hit and 3 walks. They even did better than they did in the Diamondbacks game. This time they held the Padres hitless for 6 and 2/3 innings. The offense snapped out of a brief slump, scoring 5 runs on 12 hits. They scored single runs in the 1st, 4th, and 5th. They added 2 runs in the 7th. Only Canario and Davis did not get a hit. Davis did hit the ball hard but got nothing for it. He rejoined the 100 club, with his average slipping to .197. Triolo does not feel so alone now. McCutchen hit a solo home run. The Pirates did not commit an error and ran the bases well. It was a complete win. The Pirates are 3-2 on the road trip. It does not get much better than this.

Key Moments Of The Game: After the first inning, Falter pitched outstandingly. Still a little perplexed, he was taken out after 79 pitches, but maybe that is why he is successful. The Pirates never let his pitch count get too high. The Pirates, as usual, are pretty mum on the subject. There was a little concern when the Pirates scored a run in the first. They had 1st and 2nd with no outs but couldn’t score any more runs. The Pirates had 2-out lightning in the top of the 5th. Adam Frazier doubled. Ke’Bryan Hayes made rare contact with the ball and drilled a single to center to score Frazier. McCutchen hit a homer the next inning to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead. The Pirates added 2 more runs. The Padres never threatened to make a game of it.

Next Game: This afternoon, Padres in San Diego. Bailey Falter’s twin Andrew Heaney goes for the Pirates today. Can the Pirates do a 4-2 road trip? I know we will probably see the goofy Sunday lineup. Rodriguez will probably catch today, which is fine. Things that will not be fine: if they rest McCutchen. They play Triolo and Pham. Will they ever let Salak take the field again? How well is he going to do after this long of inactivity? No question it would be nice to see the Pirates do something special and win this series. Today’s starting lineup will be the first key. Remember, they have a day off tomorrow. It’s off unless they play that secret softball game.

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Pirates Morning Report: We Were Robbed

Final Score: Pirates 2 Padres 3

Why The Pirates Lost: In a game where the Pirates out hit the Padres 7 to 3, they were robbed of a run in the top of the 8th inning. The Padres made the most of those 3 hits by scoring 3 runs. In the bottom of the 4th, they took a 1-0 lead. They scored more conventionally with a double and a single. The Pirates scored 2 runs in the top of the sixth. They got 2-out hits from Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz to take the 2-1 lead. The Padres scratched out 2 runs with only one hit in the bottom of the 6th. Mitch Keller walked lead-off hitter Fernando Tatis. Tatis was running when Luis Arraez doubled down the left field line. Tatis scored easily to tie the game. Arraez took third on a rather short fly ball to right field. He scored on a ground ball that slightly handcuffed Adam Frazier. It was just enough to make the throw late, and Arraez scored the deciding run of the game. Mitch Keller is becoming the hard-luck pitcher of the year. He went 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on just 3 hits. He walked 2, but the second one really came back to haunt him. Keller’s record dropped to 1-7. His ERA+ is 115, which is one of the highest of his career. This was a real hard-luck loss for the Pirates. It did not help that they struck out 14 times, including 6 times in a row at one point. Let’s get to that fateful 8th inning.

Key Moment Of The Game: The inning started out benign enough. Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out, and Oneil Cruz flied out to start the inning. McCutchen doubled. Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz walked to load the bases. This brought up Henry Davis, who had had a rough go of it to this point. He had struck out twice and popped out to third base. Things were about to get even worse. He fouled off two pitches. He took three pitches well out of the strike zone. This worked the count to 3-2. The sixth pitch was low by a good ball and a half. The umpire called it a strike. Instead of a walk forcing in a run and tying the game 3-3, the inning was over. It was a horrible call. This is why the electronic strike zone should be in the game. These umpires today really botch up the balls and strikes in each direction. The Pirate bats did not have a great game; there was no question about that. Nonetheless, the score should have been at least 3-3 going into the bottom of the eighth. Not a good way to lose a game.

Next Game: Tonight Padres in San Diego. The Pirates lost the opening game of the Diamondbacks series and came back to win the series. The Padres will have to face the left-handed clones Falter and Heaney in the two games. Hopefully, the Pirates can win at least one game and have a .500 road trip. The offense needs to get back on track fast. They need to score at least 5 runs tonight. That will make you feel that the previous 2 games were not just a fluke. Don Kelly got ejected for the 3rd time in his short career. It was on the Davis strike call. Maybe he will catch Bobby Cox. Just 159 to go.

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Pirates Morning Report: Wham Bam Thank You Pham

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Tommy Pham is a gifted player. He is one of the few players in the major leagues that can go 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI but be the main reason you lost a game. Ryan Borucki did groove a sweeper right down the middle in the top of the 8th on an 0-2 count. Chase Shugart did the same thing the game before. He got away with it as the batter flied out to rather deep left field. Borucki would have gotten away with it too if Pham knew how to judge a fly ball. This was a fly ball that hit about 12 inches before the wall in left field. Any competent left fielder would have caught the ball. Then we come to the bottom of the 8th. Pham led off with a single. He immediately gets balked to second base. Jared Triolo and his .136 batting average are at the plate. The situation was screaming for a pinch hitter. Triolo was allowed to bat. He could not catch up with any fastball, with two being right down the middle. He was an easy strike out. Oneil Cruz was intentionally walked. Pham, who was thinking I probably should have caught that ball, was picked off 2nd base for the 2nd out. This all ruined a nice comeback by the Pirates. The Brewers scored 3 runs in the first, but the Pirates pecked away. Oneil Cruz hit the hardest home run of the season at 122.9 MPH in the third. The Pirates added 2 runs in the 6th and 7th to take a 5-3 lead. Then came the disastrous 8th.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bailey Falter had another shaky first inning. This time, he could not get out of it unscathed. A bad throw by Oneil Cruz allowed the 3rd run to score. The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 2nd but could not score. Triolo was the big out as his blooper was caught by Jackson Chourio, making a nice running catch. The Pirates scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th and had a runner on 1st with 1 out. Jared Triolo then bunted. Do the Pirates understand anything about baseball? He should have done that later in the game. We had a runner on second with no one out in the bottom of the 8th. Of course, Tommy Pham would have been picked off third instead of second. The Pirates out-hit the Brewers 12 to 7. The Pirates had 4 walks to the Brewers’ 5. This game was pretty much gift-wrapped for the Brewers. Everybody deserved better. However, when you play Tommy Pham and don’t pinch-hit for Jared Triolo in a key situation, you get what you deserve. It was a great opportunity lost.

Next Game: Tonight Diamondbacks in Phoenix. They do not have an off day today but must travel and play in Arizona. At least 4 of the players should be well rested since they did not do anything yesterday. I never thought I would say this, but it’s time for the Pirates to split the catching duties between Bart and Davis. Bart has been looking so bad at the plate for the last 2 weeks that a little in-season competition needs to take place. Davis needs one final shot to avoid being a huge bust as an overall no. 1 draft pick. There is nothing to lose at this point. Cherington today said that the Pirates still feel they can make a drive for the playoffs. What should happen is Pham and Triolo should be made to drive to Arizona. I do not think it is a big deal if they arrive by Wednesday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Win Another Close One.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 1

Why The Pirates Won: This was the kind of game you would expect from two of the worst run-producing teams in the league. Mitch Keller and former Pirate pitcher Quinn Priester matched each other almost pitch for pitch over the first 6 innings. Keller gave up 1 run on 7 hits. He struck out 7, walking none. Priester gave up 1 run on 6 hits. He struck out 7 and walked one. It was the Brewers’ bullpen that finally cracked in the crucial 7th inning. Each offense put a lot of traffic on the base paths but produced little from it. The Brewers collected 11 hits but scored only 1 run. The Pirates had 9 hits to go along with one walk. They were able to manage a 2nd run, which was the difference in the ballgame.

Key Moments Of The Game: The 7th turned out to be the crucial inning of the game. Caleb Ferguson came in to pitch in relief of Keller. He gave up two weakly hit singles to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. On another weak contact, Jake Bauers grounded into a force out at second. Ferguson hit Joey Ortiz on a 1-2 pitch to load the bases. The Pirates had to bring the infield in. Brice Turang hit a ground ball just to the left of Adam Frazier. He made a nice stop, spun around, and threw a perfect strike to Henry Davis to get the force at home. Don Kelly decided to bring in Chase Shugart to face Jackson Chourio. Shugart fell behind 2 balls and no strikes. On a 91 MPH cutter right down the middle, Chourio hit a fly ball. It traveled 302 ft. to Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates were fortunate that he did not get all of it. With one out in the bottom of the 7th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to left field. Henry Davis lined out to 3rd for the 2nd out. IKF was balked to 2nd base. Lefty Tyler Alexander was pitching for the Brewers. Oneil Cruz has not done well against lefties so far this year. This time, he ripped a low middle-in sweeper 114 MPH into the right center field gap to easily score IKF. Cruz legged it into third for his first triple of the season. Dennis Santana and David Bednar protected the lead. Bednar put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the 9th. He managed to get Turang to hit into a game-ending double play. The Pirates pulled one out 2-1.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. No matter what happens today, the Pirates will have a winning home stand. It would be nice to see them go 5-2. Bailey Falter will go for the Pirates today. He has been one of their most consistent pitchers this year. The Pirates head out west this week to play the Diamondbacks and the Padres. This will be a tough road to hoe. Winning this one could give them a little momentum. Oneil Cruz looks like he may be ready to go on an offensive run. It would be nice to see someone do it.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Win A Wild One

Final Score: Pirates 6 Brewers 5 10 innings.

Why The Pirates Won. The Pirates started a new streak by scoring more than 4 runs for 2 games in a row. This time it was enough to pull out an extra-inning win 6-5. Oneil Cruz hit 2 home runs in a game for the first time in his career. They were both solo shots. This meant that the Pirates had to get 10 hits, 5 walks, and a catcher’s interference to score the other 4 runs. Jeez. They left 10 men on base. They continued their trend of single-digit strikeouts, this time with 8. Paul Skenes pitched another solid game. He went 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits. He walked 2 while striking out 8. He threw 101 pitches to get through the 6 innings. The score was 2-1 when he left the game. The bullpen gave up 3 runs in the final 3 innings of regulation. They got pounded for 6 hits and walked 4. There were some in the bullpen who performed well; they were not named Bednar and Rainey. All is forgiven when you win. The Pirates still have a chance for that 5-2 homestand.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The score was 2-1 going into the top of the 7th when Tanner (Why Don’t They Know That I Can’t Pitch) Rainey entered the game. He did get one out. Then he gave up a walk and 2 singles. The Brewers tied the game and had 1st and 3rd with one out. Dennis Santana came in, giving up a single to put the Brewers out in front 3-2. Santana struck out the next 2 batters to end the inning. In the bottom of the 7th, the Pirates quickly tied it. Andrew McCutchen hit a one-out double. Bryan Reynolds drove him home with a single to center. Caleb Ferguson got out of a big jam in the top of the 8th to keep the score 3-3. William Contreras homered in the top of the 9th. Oneil Cruz homered in the bottom of the 9th. If Cruz stares at his homers any longer and trots around the bases any slower, MLB will have to put a home run trot clock in the game. Each team got their ghost runner home in the 10th inning. The Pirates had 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Joey Bart was at the plate. He has had recent struggles at the plate. The Brewers took care of all that by wild pitching in the winning run. God bless them.

Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller will be going for the Pirates today. The Pirates played their normal frustrating game last night with one exception. They won. Paul Skenes could not pick up a win. For a change, the team did win when he pitched. I thought Canario might be rejoining the 100 club. However, a 10th-inning bloop single that tied the game kept him above .200. Will the Pirates be able to pull out the next 2 games? Maybe they will finally get some momentum.

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Pirates Morning Report: At Least They Scored More Than Four Runs.

Final Score: Pirates 5 Brewers 8

Why The Pirates Lost: Two of the worst hitting teams in baseball produced a combined 13 runs. Unfortunately for the Pirates, they only scored 5 of those 13 runs. Mike Burrows made his first Major League start. He was done in by the long ball. The big blow was by the slumping Christian Yelich. In the top of the first, he hit a 3-run home run to the opposite field that barely got over the glove of Tommy (Maybe A Better Outfielder Would Have Made The Catch) Pham. In the top of the 2nd, Burrows gave up a solo shot by Joey Ortiz to account for the 4 runs he gave up. He pitched 5 innings, giving up 4 hits, walking 2, and striking out 3. It was not that bad of a performance. He was done in by giving up home runs to hitters batting under .200. The bullpen gave up the other 4 runs over the last 4 innings. A rare bad day for the pitching staff. The Pirates put the not scoring more than 4 runs streak to rest by scoring 5. The only problem was they should have scored 10. They had 9 hits along with 7 walks. They struck out 6 times. They were 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They left 10 men on base. They grounded into 2 double plays to be tied at the top spot with 49 for the season. In a game where the pitching faltered, the offense could have made this game closer but did not. The Pirates are now 2-2 on the homestand.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Brewers had the 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 1st. The Pirates looked like they were going to get right back in the game. They loaded the bases with nobody out. Joey Bart grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat. A run scored, but Spencer Horwitz struck out to end the inning. The Brewers got the run right back with another home run in the top of the 2nd. Yelich hit another home run in the top of the 6th to make it 5-2. The Pirates had 2-out lightning in the bottom of the 6th when IKF and Cruz had back-to-back doubles. McCutchen walked, during which Cruz was wild-pitched to third. Then the rains came. Reynolds struck out when the game resumed. In the top of the 7th, the Brewers scored 3 runs. They were helped by the fact that Adam Frazier is too old to move and bend over. A ground ball that went under his glove drove in the final two runs. The Pirates were able to tack on 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th. They did not break the Major League record, just tied it. This really wasn’t a key moment, but I could not let this go unnoticed. Tommy Pham struck out in the bottom of the 2nd on 5 pitches. He did not swing at one pitch. Daniel (The Turtle) Vogelbach’s philosophy of hitting is having its impact on the Pirates’ players. Pham has a long way to go to get to Vogelbach. Once, while playing for the Pirates, he took 6 pitches to strike out. Then he took 5 more in his next at-bat to make the count 3-2. He did hit the next pitch out for a home run. He took 11 pitches in a row, with 5 being strikes. At least Pham has something to shoot for. He will probably do it now that he is getting to play more again.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes will start tonight for the Pirates. That means that his “personal” catcher Henry Davis will start also. Henry Davis played like a major leaguer in his last start. The way some fans and media acted, you would have thought that he should have gotten the Player of the Week award. In his career, he has had 425 plate appearances. His slash line is .190/.277/.262, for an OPS+ of 61. Most of that came during his rookie season when he hit 7 of his 9 home runs. His Defensive Runs Saved as a catcher is negative 4. If he has another good game tonight, I will be shocked. Even if he does, that does not make up for 114 games of awfulness. Some people seem to think so.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Shut Out Reds, The Only Way They Can Win

Final Score: Pirates 1 Reds 0

Why The Pirates Won: It sure as hell was not the offense. The Pirates have won 2 of their last 8 games. In both wins, the Pirates have shut out their opponent. This time it was Bailey Falter, Dennis Santana, and David Bednar who combined for the shutout. Falter pitched a strong 7 innings. He gave up 4 hits, walked none, and struck out 5. He threw only 79 pitches. I thought he would come out for the 8th inning. He did not. Dennis Santana pitched a clean 8th inning. I thought he was going to get a 2-inning save. He did not. David (Smiling) Bednar came in to get the save. He started out by giving up a leadoff single. I thought here comes another blown save. He got Santiago Espinal to ground into a 4-6-3 double play. This brought Elly De La Cruz to the plate. I thought he might hit a home run. He did not. He hit a big high fly ball down the left field line. Alexander Canario managed to turn this into a slipping, sliding acrobatic catch to end the game. The four-game losing streak was somehow over. The offense was its normal embarrassing self, but there were a few positives. They only struck out 4 times. They had 6 hits and 4 walks. They could only produce 1 run with all of that base traffic. Part of the problem: the Pirates grounded into 3 double plays to lead the league at 47. I wonder what that record is.

Key Moment Of The Game: In the first inning, Falter gave up a leadoff triple to T.J. Friedl. He was able to get out of the inning with the Reds not scoring. The second out was the big out, striking out De La Cruz. He retired the next six batters in a row over the next two innings. In the top of the fourth, Espinal led off with a double. He retired the 3, 4, and 5 hitters easily. There was not a ball hit over 80 MPH, and he struck out the last batter to end the inning. He only gave up two more hits. He faced one batter over the minimum thanks to a double play ball. Bryan Reynolds got the big hit in the bottom of the sixth to drive in the only run of the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Reds in Pittsburgh. Last night, the starting lineup brought back memories of Derek Shelton. No IKF and no Nick Solak. Not playing Solak is the Pirates developmental departments policy of learning by observation. How has that been working out? Instead, we had Jared (The Dead Tree) Triolo and Adam (Playing For The Pirates Makes Me Look Good) Frazier. David Bednar closed the game rather than Santana, who has not blown a save yet. We can only hope that there may be some showcasing involved. The Phillies need a bullpen guy with closing experience. At one point this year, the Pirates had 6 players that had OPS+ over 100, which is above league average. Now, they have only 2. Joey Bart is right at 100. Oneil Cruz, who was once at 154, is now down to 116. Even though it is obvious this team needs help, there looks like there is none on the way. In a way, it is too bad they won last night. This offense is so awful. The Pirates have players in AAA that are better. One thing is for sure; they could not do any worse. Let’s give Gorski a chance. For the sake of humanity, trade him.